A team at the University of Illinois has been given a $2m grant to develop devices that can add 3D medical imaging capability to traditionally 2D ultrasound systems.

The FASTER project, led by the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, has been proposed as a way to make advanced three-dimensional imaging technologies more widely accessible without the need for dedicated and expensive CAT scanners or MRI machines.

Ultrasound, by contrast, is available in many diagnostic rooms along with X-rays, and thus is often one of the earliest forms of diagnostic imaging people will have taken when they see a doctor about a medical issue.

The concept behind ultrasound is similar to the system used by bats to perceive space and objects without sight. Bats emit a high-pitched ultrasonic sound wave that bounces off of objects and how that sound returns allows them to perceive and avoid obstacles in a process known as echolocation.

Ultrasound works similarly, typically using a probe or handheld devices to send a beam of ultrasonic waves around a part of the body, typically based on a known location such as a tumour or a foetus.

From this, the machine can determine the shape, size and location of the target in question and present that information. The only issue is that information is presented in two dimensions, which can make complex tissues, organs and tumours difficult to diagnose, often requiring several scans.

The proposed solution to this by the Beckman Institute is to use a clip-on device that attaches to the probe and instantly enables 3D ultrasound imaging in real-time.

A 3D ultrasound can capture the surrounding area, as well as the whole object, much in the same way a CAT scan does, and this can help doctors at a glance know exactly what kind of issue they are dealing with, in a way that is more cost-effective and thus more widely available.

Its first adaptation will be at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, with the hope that it can be more widely utilised based on its effectiveness.

A lack of medical scans could have contributed to the exceptionally high level of excess mortality revealed in new official figures.

In 2022 over 650,000 deaths occurred, nine per cent more than the last pre-pandemic year of 2019. While there were more excess deaths in 2020 and 2021, Covid is the obvious explanation for those years. It was insufficient on its own, however, to explain the 2022 figures. 

However, the pandemic may have had an indirect impact by reducing the number of medical appointments, screenings and diagnoses in these years, preventing many people from getting the urgent, life-saving treatment they needed. 

While screenings may not have been cancelled, many patients will have been hesitant about coming forward for scans when infections were high and the NHS under severe strain.

The value of medical image sharing is that it enables the results of screenings to be easily accessed across different locations, which can have the benefit of enabling clinicians to provide the appropriate treatment for patients in a timely manner, often saving lives in the process. This is especially true for conditions like cancer.

An inability to access such images would be as bad as not having them in the first place, which can be the result of not having a scan to begin with – and it is apparent that the consequences of just such a scenario have played out with dire consequences for many patients over the past couple of years. 

Of course, there are other factors that may have contributed to what was one of the highest excess death rates in the last half century. The wider strains on the NHS may be a factor, not least at the end of the year when the worst flu season in a decade struck, itself a likely indirect consequence of reduced immunity after Covid restrictions prevented flu spreading much over previous winters.

The hot summer also contributed with the highest excess deaths during heatwaves among over-65s since comparable records began in 2004. However, this accounted for only 2,803 of the overall total, making it a minor factor.

Scientists have worked out how they can use artificial intelligence (AI) to help children in developing countries who have been born with cleft palates. 

Swiss researchers are using a 3D printer to create pre-surgical palate plates for babies in poorer countries, based on smartphone images of their cleft lips and palates, Swiss Info revealed. 

Computer software automatically generates a digital model of the palate, which can then be printed out quickly and easily. 

Andreas Muller, head of the Cleft Lip and Palate Treatment Centre at the University Hospital of Basel, designed the digital process together with scientists at the Department of Computer Science at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich. 

The procedure is currently being tested in India and Poland, and it is hoped it will make treatment more accessible for children in low-income states. 

Muller said: “As health workers, we feel frustrated faces with the fact that such ‘luxuries’ are unavailable to many families in those countries with scarce healthcare resources, training and a low number of healthcare workers.”

In higher-income nations, a team consisting of a paediatric dentist, a surgeon and anaesthesiologist create a plaster mould of the baby’s palate after they are born. An individualised plastic plate is then handcrafted by a dental technician before a qualified orthodontist implants this into the baby’s mouth and adjusts it regularly over a course of a six to eight months. 

After this, the cleft will have narrowed enough to only require a single surgery to close it. 

This surgery costs up to $3,500 (£2,880) in India, which is unaffordable for millions of people living there. 

If a cleft palate is not repaired, it can cause a number of health issues, including being unable to feed, hearing problems, a higher risk of tooth decay, and unclear speech. 

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Northern Ireland’s health and social care services are set for a major boost with news that a new imaging software system is to be deployed there. 

The system, developed by Sectra, is called NIPACS+ and will enable health trusts in Ulster to access patient scans and images from all over the region, irrespective of location, Digital Health Net reports. 

By bringing all medical imaging storage in the NHS in Northern Ireland under one single system, it means that for the first time every hospital from Belfast to Ballymena, from Limavady to Lurgan can all see crucial patient data at any time, no matter where the patient lives or has previously been treated or scanned. 

Other benefits will be the enabling of flexible working as staff who are based at home will still be able to see images, while new diagnostic hubs and training facilities will be established with the support of the system.

Chief executive at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust Dr Cathy Jack said: “This programme signals a major step forward in medical diagnostics for Northern Ireland.”

She added: “Moving to one imaging system will mean that from a single point of access healthcare professionals can instantly see all the imaging they need to support patient care.”

Managing director for Sectra in the UK and Ireland Jane Rendall said: “Northern Ireland is an example for the world in integrated diagnostics,” describing the project as an “extremely exciting one for Sectra to support”.

The development in Northern Ireland is a further sign of the growth in the use of medical imaging around the world, an expansion made easier by the accessibility to it provided by cloud storage systems and software.

According to new research from Pharmiweb.com, the global medical imaging market is set for compound annual growth of approximately 5.9 per cent between now and 2031.

New MRI scans that use 4D images have been developed to be able to diagnose heart failure in just eight minutes. 

Researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) have created technology that uses magnetic response imaging (MRI) to take 4D images of heart valves and blood flow. This has helped reduce diagnostic times from 20 minutes to just eight.

PhD student Hosamadin Assadi, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “This new technology is revolutionising how patients with heart disease are diagnosed.”

He explained the university teamed up with General Electric Healthcare to determine how reliable a new technique called Kat-ARC is as a diagnostic tool. It was found the scans not only reduce the amount of time it takes to get accurate pictures of the heart, but also measure the peak velocity of blood flow in the heart. 

Lead researcher Dr Pankaj Garg, also from Norwich Medical School, stated the best way to diagnose heart failure is through an invasive assessment, or by ultrasound scan, which can be unreliable. 

The 4D imaging, however, can look at the flow of blood in three directions over time, providing detailed information about the condition of the organ. 

Dr Garg stated if the 4D MRIs become commonplace, “this will benefit hospitals and patients across the whole world”.   

Causes of heart failure include high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, a heart attack, congenital heart conditions, heart valve disease, and abnormal heart rhythms. 

According to the NHS, heart failure impacts 900,000 people in the UK, with 60,000 new cases emerging every year. 

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